Cave Refuge

Although the floodwaters had receded, the aquatic life left behind was either picked up by survivors or had died and decayed, making the encampment temporarily devoid of a stable food source.

However, Dong Tianyu firmly didn't believe that Ye Liuyun was short of food. Considering Ye Liuyun controlled the encampment, Dong Tianyu was convinced that even the middle-tier members and ordinary people wouldn't lack food for a short period.

This was not the initial period when the natural disaster had just struck, leaving everyone unprepared. Everyone had already experienced numerous disasters and, with the evolution of Companion Spiritual Treasures allowing them to choose bearing branches, it was akin to everyone possessing storage equipment.

Therefore, although there appeared to be no stable food source in the camp, given Rabbit's Home Folk's common habit of hoarding supplies, most people, if able, would keep some reserves, and the scarcity of supplies actually slowed their consumption rate.

According to Dong Tianyu's guess, although there appeared a shortage of food in the camp, in extreme situations, it could ensure no starvation deaths for at least half a year. This was exactly why Dong Tianyu looked at Ye Liuyun with a puzzled gaze.

Noticing Dong Tianyu's look, Ye Liuyun immediately explained, "Although we are not lacking food now, having food in hand eases the mind, so I can't just wait until there's a famine before looking for food.

Although I'm unsure where you get your food, ever since I've known you, I've never seen you lack it. If it's convenient, sell me some ingredients, I'll pay a high price."

The crops that Dong Tianyu grew in the Cave weren't affected by the continuous natural disasters outside and since the Spirit Energy concentration was extremely high there, the crop yields were phenomenal.

Moreover, not just the yield, perhaps because they grew in an environment rich in Spirit Energy, although they hadn't evolved into Spirit Plants, these crops passively absorbed small amounts of Spirit Energy during their growth.

Ordinary people could not fully absorb the Spirit Energy contained in these crops, but if they consumed these Spirit Energy-enriched crops over a long period, their physical constitution would subtly improve.

Martial Artists not only possessed strong bodies but also had professional cultivation methods. Despite having far superior physical conditioning than ordinary people, consuming these agricultural products allowed them to reap greater benefits.

This meant that there were no normal crops left in the Cave, as all flora and fauna contained some Spirit Energy. Exactly because of this, Dong Tianyu didn't want to sell these ingredients at this time.

Dong Tianyu well knew that the same products could fetch different prices at different times. The high-grade ingredients produced in the Cave would only sell for a high price when survivors were not lacking ordinary food and began seeking more sophisticated pleasures.

In this era about to face starvation, most people simply sought to fill their stomachs, and so the added value of Cave-produced ingredients would drop to their lowest.

After all, people facing starvation would likely find ten buns more appealing than a bowl of shark fin soup.

"Although I still have some ingredients, they are not ordinary and are quite expensive. If you only want to buy some ordinary reserve food to fill your belly, it's not appropriate to purchase from me."

Hearing Dong Tianyu's words, Ye Liuyun became even happier, and promptly asked Dong Tianyu, "Do you really still have a lot of high-grade ingredients?"

"Of course."

After receiving Dong Tianyu's affirmative answer, Ye Liuyun became extremely excited, similar to what Dong Tianyu had expected. Ye Liuyun hadn't just come to him to buy ingredients but had approached many others capable and willing to trade.

Even though the conditions offered by those people weren't harsh, at this moment Ye Liuyun was unable to provide the appropriate goods. The Contribution Points formerly specific to each Water Base and used as Currency had now been invalidated, and though the newly established cities still used Contribution Points as Currency, they did not inherit the Contribution Value survivors had in the Water Base.

The reason given by the Imperial Court was, "The Contribution Points published in each city represent the local Officials' recognition of each survivor's contributions to that city.

Once survivors leave their original residence and move to another city, the contributions made to their former city don't transfer to their new city because to their new city, despite their contributions to the last city, they naturally become an individual with zero contributions, so their Contribution Value resets to zero."

After several rounds of natural disasters, the Contribution Point system the Imperial Court established had collapsed several times, as natural disasters often led to city destruction.

Whenever a disaster threatened an entire city, the survivors living there, for their own safety, naturally fled the city.